Friday, March 25, 2005

The jury in the Michael Jackson trial heard from a Secret Service forensic scientist, Antonio Cantu, yesterday.

He stated that it was possible that the fingerprints of Gavin Arvizo, found on an adult magazine, could have degraded in the year it took police to test the magazine after it was seized.

Cantu stated that he was not aware of the delay in the fingerprint tests, and noted that it would have been preferable for the tests to have been done immediately.

Cantu said that residue from fingerprints can change over time, although he added that some fingerprints have lasted as long as 50 years.

The judge ordered the comment stricken, because the witness is not a fingerprint identification expert.

The prosecution has said that one magazine seized from Jackson's Neverland ranch has a single fingerprint from Gavin Arvizo, and one print from Jackson. The defence claims that Gavin could have handled the magazine during the grand jury hearings, before it was subjected to fingerprint analysis.

Defence attorney Robert Sanger asked Cantu whether he would expect the analysis to be done after the material had been presented to a grand jury.

"You would expect to do that analysis first," Cantu said.

Cantu then admitted that he had not been aware that there had been a delay in testing for fingerprints.

In other news, Christopher Eric Carter a prosecution witness, was being held in Las Vegas on unrelated charges of kidnapping, burglary and robbery.

Carter was expected to testify that he once found Gavin Arvizo inebriated, and that Gavin had told him that Jackson had encouraged him to drink.

The jury in the Michael Jackson trial were treated to another porn show yesterday.

The prosecution showed them a veritable cornucopia of sexually explicit magazines and videos seized from Neverland. They also tried to show the jury the porn contents of Jackson's hard drives.

The prosecution said that their technicians isolated material on three computers at Jackson's Neverland ranch, that included teen-themed adult websites and information about adopting children.

Quote:

"We intend to use this evidence to show . . . Michael Jackson knows how to use a computer . . . that he knows how to access adult materials on Internet sites".

The defence said that the material was prejudicial, and noted that all of it was dated either two years before Jackson met Gavin or several months after his involvement with the child and his family had ended.

The defence also noted that there was no proof Jackson was the person who accessed the websites, much of the material could have been "cached," or automatically saved by the computers, from material that popped up in e-mail when others used the computers.

Judge Melville said that he had examined the computer material, and agreed with the defence that it may have been automatically stored by the computers and that "there wouldn't be any way of knowing if anyone looked at the material or not."

The porn that was shown to the jury included hundreds of adult magazines, DVDs and photos; but none of this involved children, or bore DNA from Gavin Arvizo.

The array included some magazines with teen themes that featured women just over age 18. There were titles such as Girlfriends, Finally Legal, Girls of Barely Legal, as well as Playboy, Penthouse and Hustler magazines and centrefolds.

Prosecution also introduced a portrait of a Jackson friend, actor Macaulay Culkin.

Wednesday, March 23, 2005

Yet more drama at the Michael Jackson trial. This time not involving Jackson.

A woman spectator reportedly spoke to a deputy before a break, and then walked out into a corridor and fell face down onto the ground. When deputies tried to help her she began screaming, and trying to recover a notebook she was carrying.

The woman was screaming that she wanted her notebook back. She was then strapped to a gurney and taken to an ambulance.

Comedian Louise Palanker gave her testimony at the Michael Jackson trial yesterday.

She is reported to have given $20K to the Arvizo family, to aid the treatment of Gavin who was suffering at the time from cancer.

Palanker said that she tried to contact Janet Jackson (nee Arvizo) after seeing the TV documentary "Living With Michael Jackson", in which Jackson and Gavin held hands and Jackson acknowledged letting children sleep in his bed.

Palanker said that soon after she left a message with Gavin's grandparents, Janet called her and sounded frightened.

Quote:

"She was extremely agitated and she was almost whispering...This was fear-based agitation,".

Janet allegedly told her not to call her back at the same number. Palanker quoted Janet as saying:

"Don't call me back here. They're listening to everything I say. These people are evil."

Palanker then said:

"I asked her 'Are the children in school?' She said, 'No.' That's when she started crying,".

Palanker then called her attorney afterward because "I felt that they were being held against their will." She did not call police.

She also testified that she once told investigators Janet had "hostage syndrome," and that she believed that Janet had felt like a hostage since her marriage at age 16 to an allegedly abusive man.

The defence are arguing that Gavin's mother (Janet) exploited relationships with Palanker, and other celebrities, to get money.

Palanker stated that the Arvizo family had a tendency to call celebrities including Jay Leno, who contacted Palanker. "He told me they had left three messages on his voice mail," she said.

Palanker said that she met the Arvizo family at a comedy camp for underprivileged youth, run by the Laugh Factory club, and began helping them financially after the boy was diagnosed with cancer.

Palanker said she gave the family $10K for expenses. She then gave a second gift of $10K when the father asked for more money. Palanker said the father told her the family could not afford rent because his wife had spent their money on such things as prayer and "a lot of statues and votive candles."

Palanker said that she later learned that the family had fixed up a clean room for Gavin, so that he could recover from chemotherapy at his grandparents' house. The Arvizo's also bought Gavin a big screen TV and DVD player that they all used.

Palanker said she and the owner of the Laugh Factory organized two benefits for the family at the father's urging. However, by the time of the second benefit, comedian George Lopez refused to perform because the father and Gavin had accused Lopez and his wife of stealing $300 from Gavin's wallet.

Palanker said that the Lopezes said they had been falsely accused and "were irate,".

Tuesday, March 22, 2005

Once the histrionics of the 45 minute delay in yesterday's trial schedule were out of the way, it was business as usual for the defence team in Michael Jackson's trial.

Tom Mesereau resumed his cross examination of a detective, Konn Able, who was involved in a search of Jackson's Neverland Ranch.

Mesereau questioned Able about the surveillance equipment that was seized at Neverland. It is the defence's contention that this equipment was part of the ranch's general security arrangements. The prosecution, on the other hand, suggest that Jackson used it to spy on his guests.

Monday, March 21, 2005

It is reported that Michael Jackson made a secret deal to mortgage his entire back catalogue of his own songs, including Billie Jean and Beat It, for $60M.

Seemingly Jackson is "on the precipice of bankruptcy", and borrowed the money two years ago in order to pay off his debts and continue living in "fantasy land".

However, as all good accountants will tell you, by using up all his past assets to fund future spending Jackson is now on the financial "edge"; he does not have a future income on which to live.

I would have thought that would worry his legal team; I doubt that they are prepared to work "pro bono" for very long.

Jackson has faced financial woes before. In 1999 he borrowed $130M, using his catalogue of Beatles hits that he bought in 1985. Jackson then went on to borrow $90M in 2001 and a further $60M in 2003.

The prosecution allege that Jackson has debts of about $320M. Not least, he reportedly owes the IRS $150M.

These revelations come in a forthcoming book "We Made It Up As We Went Along", by Paul Russell a music industry boos who has worked with Jackson.

Russell is quoted as saying:

"While Michael may still have considerable assets, he has a serious cashflow problem...He first borrowed against the value of the Beatles catalogue in 1999 and since then he has just kept on borrowing..His problem is he still is living the lifestyle of a superstar whose records sell 40m copies, like in the Thriller days. The pie got smaller, but he was still spending..."

Russell then adds:

"Jackson was never a good businessman. I remember in the early days, just after he bought the Beatles catalogue, he was so enthusiastic and earnest about owning what he saw as part of music history. He wanted to be a guardian of the Beatles' memory, not make a fortune out of them..."

Sunday, March 20, 2005

It seems that there is another allegation about molestation from the past.

Not only has Judge Rodney Melville to decide as to whether to admit evidence from the well documented Jordie Chandler allegations from 1993, but he must also decide as to whether to admit allegations concerning another case.

The second case involves the son of a Neverland employee, who claimed that Jackson touched him on the outside of his trousers. Allegedly the child's family received an estimated $2.5M settlement.

The Jackson camp has reportedly admitted making settlements while denying any guilt.

Security staff at the Jackson trial went into alert mode on Thursday, when a shaven-haired man was seen loitering outside the courthouse.

The man appeared to be waiting for Jackson, Jackson's security team refused to allow him to leave the courtroom until the man was apprehended by the police.

It is understood that he has not been charged with any offence.

One witness is reported to have said:

"He had been hanging around all day and as soon as Jackson's security team saw him they took action...There was no way they were going to let Michael walk out while this man was there...They were anxious about the situation and obviously they take Michael's security very seriously."